I would tend to agree with you, however, call me a bit of a cynic in that all too often, after a merger and/or acquisition, corporations don't always act in a logical manner. I would refer you to what Klipsch, not long after their purchase, did to the Mirage brand and others in the API stable of speakers and what, after their purchase, what Audiovox might have intended for them. Time will tell.

Generally speaking, those on the forums that are Klipsch owners, are not too happy about this situation either.

Anything is possible, but it's not something that anybody can speak knowledgeably about. Asking for what impact it will have now is not going to yield a definitive answer of any sort - I doubt even Silicon Image could answer it.

The case of Klipsch and Mirage is one that's similar to other instances of one company being bought by another that makes the same sort of products (whether speaker companies, plumbing fixture companies, credit card companies, banks, or many others) and one company's product line and history gets diluted or altered in undesirable ways. Silicon Image has no existing video processing offerings, so they are using the ABT purchase to enter a new market. That could prove good for them, or their inexperience in the market could cause future ABT products to fail to live up to the lineage that has come before. In the short term, it could have no impact at all for the Model 978 or it could make it harder to get answers to questions that arise during beta testing. In the long term, it's anybody's guess...

I am most interested in what the video processing features will be? I am currently running an Integra 8.9 and use the ISF features in the receiver to help out my RS2. I wouldn't expect Duo level of video adjustments but something near what the 8.9 does would be a real attraction for me. If it were also automatable via Calman I'd be all over this device.

RE-visiting this earlier discussion... The new pictures of the ICBM-2 reminded me of this debate, especially with the BDP-95 in the mix.

The ICBM-2 has both RCA and XLR inputs. It also has a front panel switch to allow you to switch between the two. This is what I picture from looking at that combination:

Take a BDP-95, connect the multichannel analog output to the RCA inputs on an ICBM-2, and connect the stereo analog XLR output to the left and right XLR inputs on the ICBM-2. Connect the RCA outputs of the ICBM-2 to a non-HDMI surround processor. Disable bass management in the BDP-95, and set the front crossover on the ICBM-2 to something (not bypass). Voila - when the ICBM-2 is on "Balanced" input mode, you're using the dedicated stereo output and getting a signal for your subwoofer, while changing to the "Unbalanced" input mode gives you multichannel audio.

And speaking of pictures, we also have Model 978 pictures...

Some thoughts on those pictures:

Phono pre-amp is MM/MC. I don't remember if we already knew that or not, but it's rare on a surround processor or receiver.

PLIIz support is going to involve sacrificing back surrounds: 7.2 pre-amp outputs. This is the same as the AV7005 (even though the AV7005 has 11.2 pre-outs). This has been an often-asked question.

Looks like we'll have some form of "virtual inputs" - two composite video, three component video, three stereo analog, three coaxial, three optical, and five HDMI inputs are all labeled with numbers only rather than generic standard names. The only "pre-labeled" inputs we may find are the phono (naturally), 7.1 direct (naturally), and front AV. I think this has the potential to be a very good arrangement.

Primary monitor outputs are HDMI only, with some record and second zone composite outputs in the mix. This is a reasonable decision for a product launching in 2011, and with two forms of legacy analog video inputs available (a total of six composite and component connections) we can still integrate older source components.

The layout of the rear panel feels like it will be comforable to connect, at least for the way my equipment rack has evolved. Pre-outs can go down without blocking access to other things, video inputs are at the top, digital audio are off to one side, and only analog audio inputs (which we're least likely to make heavy use of) are stuck in the very middle.

They haven't shown a bunch of logos on the unit yet. They may keep it that way, which would be OK with me.

Very nice, clean look. I'm with you Gonk, I'd keep the logos off. Old school.

Great peliminary analysis, gonk. I agree... very promising.

+1

A comment and two questions:
Though any form of virtual input (VI) will be welcome, I hope Outlaw implements two features at minimum beyond VI labeling. The first is the ability to map a single physical input to multiple VI's. This would be very useful for owners (like me) who use a multi-function HTPC as a source. Related to input mapping, it would also be nice if different default surround modes could be assigned to individual VI's. Outlaw could do a lot more beyond this with VI's, but these two features would suffice for me.

Questions:
* Does anyone know if both HDMI outputs can be active at once?
* Does anyone know if the 978 will be able to play FLAC files?

Eric

Assuming the HTPC can output the FLAC files I expect the 978 will be able to process them. The player will determine what can be output.

My HTPC can definitely output FLAC (ripped from CDs), but I don't know if FLAC decoding is a standard feature on receivers and prepros yet.